The present invention relates to crystalline polymorphic forms of a highly potent epothilone analog that is characterized by enhanced properties.
Epothilones are macrolide compounds that find utility in the pharmaceutical field. For example, Epothilones A and B having the structures: 
may be found to exert microtubule-stabilizing effects similar to paclitaxel (TAXOL(copyright)) and hence cytotoxic activity against rapidly proliferating cells, such as, tumor cells or other hyperproliferative cellular disease, see Hofle, G., et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., Vol. 35, No.13/14, 1567-1569 (1996); W093/10121 published May 27, 1993; and WO97/19086 published May 29, 1997.
Various epothilone analogs have been synthesized and may be used to treat a variety of cancers and other abnormal proliferative diseases. Such analogs are disclosed in Hofle et al., Id.; Nicolaou, K. C., et al., Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. Vol. 36, No. 19, 2097-2103 (1997); and Su, D.-S., et al., Angew Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., Vol. 36, No. 19, 2093-2097 (1997).
A particularly advantageous epothilone analog that has been found to have advantageous activity is [1S-[1R*,3R*(E),7R*,10S*,11R*,12R*,16S*]]-7,11-Dihydroxy-8,8,10,12,16-pentamethyl-3-[1-methyl-2-(2-methyl-4-thiazolyl)ethenyl]-4-aza-17-oxabicyclo[14.1.0]heptadecane-5,9-dione. In accordance with the present invention, two crystal forms of the subject epothilone analog are provided. These polymorphs, which have been designated as Forms A and B, respectively, are novel crystal forms and are identified hereinbelow.